Neuroscience Books & Movies
Date: May 29, 2024 2:27 PM
Recommendations by neuroscientists: general interest books, movies and other media about various topics in neuroscience.
Adapted from Aizenmann lab Google Doc & various other threads
Books
Really interesting read about how the brain is put together from a bunch of seemingly scattered parts and biological processes. Any of his other books are good too.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks
A classic, interesting case studies from the fringes of neurology. Also, all his other books are great, I also liked Awakenings.
Neurotribes - Steve Silberman
Incredibly good book about autism and autistic individuals, and the idea of neurodiversity. Really changed how I think of neurological disorders, very well written.
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Calahan
Autobiographical case study of sudden onset psychosis, caused by something we talked a lot about in class (I won’t spoil it).
Delusions of Gender - Cordelia Fine
Great summary of the neuroscience of sex differences, had some controversy when it came out, but worth reading.
A Primate’s Memoir - Robert Sapolsky
A classic neuroscience book about baboons - neuroendocrinology, social hierarchy, very well written. One of my favorites.
Think Tank - multiple authors
A series of essays by forty neuroscientists about their favorite topics in neuroscience. Most are very good and insightful.
An Alchemy of Mind - Diane Ackerman
I have not read this yet, but her other books I really enjoyed. A bit more literary than the others, but always insightful.
The Three Pound Enigma - Shannon Moffet
Another entertaining and insightful book about how we study the brain.
Phantoms in the Brain - VS Ramachandran
Really good writer, more case studies but unlike Oliver Sacks it delves a little deeper into the mechanisms and neuroscience behind them.
Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist - Ben Barres
Well written account by an incredible neuroscientist.
Time, Love, Memory - Jonathan Weiner
Biography of Seymour Benzer and the founding of the field of behavioral genetics.
How to Make a Zombie - Frank Swain
Learn all about the science of zombies - head transplantation experiments, mind control, all sorts of fringe neuroscience.
Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality – David Linden
An interesting exploration of how the interactions between genes and environment shape who we are and what makes each of us different.
Innate: How the wiring of our brains shapes who we are – Kevin Mitchell
A nice complement to “Unique”. Further explorations in individuality, genes and development.
The Entangled Brain: How Percetion, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together – Luiz Pessoa
A new take on a circuits level view of brain function.
In Praise of Imperfection: My Life and Work - Rita Levi-Montalcini
Neuroscientist, Nobel prize winner, Jewish during Mussolini’s racial laws. She fled bringing with her the microscope and she setted up a clandestine laboratory at home.
The tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons - Sam Kean
True neuroscience stories about trauma, madness and recovery. A collection and explanation of all the case studies that allowed us to learn about the human brain, eg Phineas Gage. Author has a podcast, The Disappearing Spoon
Musicophilia – Oliver Sacks
There aren’t many books on music and the brain, this one is well written and accessible.
How to Change Your Mind: What the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness
Michael Pollan always writes good books on everything from food to psylocibin. This one is quite interesting on a trendy topic.
Neurogastronomy: How the bran creates flavor and why it matters – Gordon Shepherd
A very deep dive into the neuroscience of food. It gets pretty deep into the neuroscience, but remains fairly accessible. Very interesting and insightful.
Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating – Charles Spence
A bit more accessible, but a bit less neuroscience. Nevertheless its very engaging and will suck you in.
Models of the Mind by Grace Lindsay @neurograce
The Entangled Brain by Luis Pessoa @PessoaBrain
A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett @maxsbennett
My favorite general book on neuroscience for high school students, neuroscience grad students, neuroscience faculty and everyone in between is “A Brief History of Intelligence” -Tony Zadorv
The Experience Machine by Andy Clark.
Ed Yong, An Immense World
‘Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain’ by Patricia Churchland
History of Neuroscience in Autobiography: series from SfN
TED Talks and Podcasts
Temple Grandin - The world needs all kinds of minds.
https://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds#t-12294
Oded Rechavi, Tel Aviv University - Transgenerational biology: biology of heritable memories
https://www.ted.com/talks/oded_rechavi_transgenerational_biology?language=en
Kay Tye, Salk Institute - What investigating neural pathways can reveal about mental health
Wendy Suzuki, NYU -The brain-chainging effects of exercise
https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_suzuki_the_brain_changing_benefits_of_exercise#t-528550
Robert Sapolsky, Stanford - The biology of our best and worst selves
https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_biology_of_our_best_and_worst_selves
Steve Ramirez and Xiu Liu, MIT - A mouse. A laser beam, A manipulated memory.
https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_ramirez_and_xu_liu_a_mouse_a_laser_beam_a_manipulated_memory
Michael Dickinson, Caltech - How a fly flies.
https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_dickinson_how_a_fly_flies#t-200545
Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Vanderbilt - What’s so special about the human brain?
https://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain#t-676689
Wendy Chung, Columbia - Autism – what we know (and what we don’t know yet).
https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_chung_autism_what_we_know_and_what_we_don_t_know_yet#t-121653
Steve Silberman - The forgotten history of autism.
https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_silberman_the_forgotten_history_of_autism#t-503
Oliver Sacks, Oxford - What hallucination reveals about our minds.
https://www.ted.com/talks/oliver_sacks_what_hallucination_reveals_about_our_minds
V.S. Ramachandran, UCSD - The Neurons That Shaped Civilization
https://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization#t-117381
Jim Bolte Taylor, Indiana University - My stroke of insight.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_my_stroke_of_insight#t-3224
David Linden, Johns Hopkins - The Science of Touching and Feeling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW8pJ7E9taQ
Anil Sethi – Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality
https://www.ted.com/talks/anil_seth_your_brain_hallucinates_your_conscious_reality
Radiant Minds Podcast – made in conjunction with the Oliver Sacks Foundation. DIscusses his writings and digs into some of his primary material and interviews. Not free, requires Audible subscription..
https://www.oliversacks.com/watch-listen_category/podcast/
Huberman Lab Podcast - interesting and popular podcast about Neuro, health and brain hacking. I would take some of it with a grain of salt (maybe two).
Articles
When do neural representations give rise to mental representations? by Kevin Mitchell, The Transmitter
Neuroscience Fiction
The Terminal Man - Michael Crichton All about mind control, great book.
Neuromancer - William Gibson Brain implants! Virtual reality! Cyberpunk! This has it all.
Lock In – John Scalzi A sci-fi police procedural about locked-in syndrome
Movies
(not all about neuroscience, but that explore neuroscientific concepts in interesting ways)
Awakenings (1990)
About Oliver Sacks’ experience with catatonic patients, first use of L-DOPA to treat Parkinon’s like symptoms.
Memento (2000)
Movie about a guy with anterograde amnesia trying to solve a crime. Very good!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
What if we could erase painful memories?
Inception (2010)
What if we could implant new memories?
Limitless (2011)
What if we could use 100% of our brain? (hint: we already use 100% of our brain)
Inside Out (2015)
Excellent animated movie with a unique view on the neural control of emotions.
Temple Grandin (2010)
Movie about one of the best known autistic scientists.
My Love Affair With the Brain (2017)
Excellent documentary about the origins of the idea of neural plasticity and the moldable brain.
My Beautiful Broken Brain (2016)
Documentary describing a woman’s recovery from a stroke.
Inside Out (2015)
A surprisingly good representation about how the mind works, and a fun movie.
Concussion (2015)
Movie about a doctor who first reports massive brain degeneration after brain trauma in NFL.
League of Denial (2013)
Episode of Frontline about concussions and the NFL
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Movie about a magazine editor who suffers from a stroke, resulting in “locked-in” syndrome. The story of how he learns to communicate and write his story by blinking one eye.
Suggestions from the Community (I haven’t seen/read these ones, but they look good)
The Man Who Wasn’t There: Investigations into the new science of self – Anil Anathaswamy
The Conciousness Instinct – Michael Gazzaniga
Well-know neuroscientist writes about the science of consciousness.
Tales of Neuroscience by The Mind Gala – nice intro book to neuroscience written by students: https://themindgala.wixsite.com/themindgala/talesofneuroscience
Still Alice (2014) - movie
Dr. Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) is a renowned linguistics professor at Columbia University. When words begin to escape her and she starts becoming lost on her daily jogs, Alice must come face-to-face with a devastating diagnosis: early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Altered States (Movie)
Lucy (Movie)
Total Recall (Movie)
Headstrong: Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury - JoAnne Silver Jones
Fixing My Gaze by Susan Barry - about gaining depth perception for the first time
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor - about the experience of having and recovering from a stroke
Donovan’s Brain (movie)
The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction - Larry Young (a well known behaviral neuroscientist).
The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness - Jack El-Hai
(also a PBS series about the same person, with same title)
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart
James R. Doty, MD
Lady Dynamite by the comedian Maria Bamford on Netflix is an EXCELLENT portrayal of her experience with bipolar disorder
“The Man with a Shattered World: The History of a Brain Wound” by A.R. Luria.
It includes journals from Zasetsky, a former solider, as he struggles to recover from TBI. It is interspersed with commentary by his psychologist Luria. This work inspired Oliver Sacks!
Brain Science Podcast by Dr. Ginger Campbell: https://brainsciencepodcast.com
The Future of the Brain: Essays by the World’s Leading Neuroscientists - eg. Gary Marcus
The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience - Matthew Cobb
Lawnmower Man (movie)